The Wardman Wire

Theme Month

I posted earlier about Oink the Water Buffalo in Darley Abbey.

I’m may not be forgiven for highlighting this, but he has a website now as well. Photo credit Snap Derby.

I guarantee that I will not be doing a podcast interview.

I will - however - cover any MPs who do a publicity photo wearing a viking hat with Oink though.

Given that it is Derbyshire, Ann and Nicholas Winterton would seem appropriate. Oink.

Speaking to a councillor at a Local Authority, I realised a couple of minutes into the chat that it wasn’t really a conversation - he was simply asking loaded questions to get a ‘vicar supports council policy’ answer out of me.

This post - the third in our series about the “Moral but No Compass” report commissioned by the Church of England looking at the role of the Church in the welfare delivery, is an initial response by David Keen, who writes a column here each week.

David Keen is a Church of England Vicar in Yeovil. He blogs at St Aidan to Abbey Manor.

This post - the second in our series about the “Moral but No Compass” report commissioned by the Church of England looking at the role of the Church in the public square, is a repost of the initial reflections from Alan Wilson, Bishop of Buckingham.

The article was originally posted on Bishop Alan’s blog on Monday 9th June.

This report from the Cambridge Von Hugel Foundation, excellently summarized with extracts by Ruth Gledhill, raises key questions about how the Church of England serves everybody in this country, and the assumptions political elites often make about it.

Introduction by Matt Wardman

At The Wardman Wire we will be publishing a series of articles about the Von Hugel Institute Centre for the Study of Faith in Society report “Moral, but No Compass”. Over the next several weeks, we will be publishing a number of articles - hopefully from a range of viewpoints - aiming to get beyond the initial reactions which many commentators have felt obliged to come up with without reading the document itself. Most of these initial reactions seem to be attempts to create narratives supporting existing positions; a criticism that I would extend to all viewpoints - including those I agree with who have indulged themselves.

There is much there relevant to the policy research and formation process with respect to the Third Sector, as well as the position of Christian churches in the UK, and their relation to government. I’m hoping to obtain a very wide range of perspectives in this second “online symposium” (out first was about MP Pay and Expenses).

We start off with an overview from Simon Barrow, Co-Director of Ekklesia, which is this weeks Thinking Aloud column.

At The Wardman Wire we will be publishing a series of articles about the Von Hugel Institute Centre for the Study of Faith in Society report “Moral, but No Compass”. Over the next several weeks, we will be publishing a number of articles - hopefully from a range of viewpoints - aiming to get beyond the initial reactions which many commentators have felt obliged to come up with without reading the document itself. Most of these initial reactions seem to be attempts to create narratives supporting existing positions; a criticism that I would extend to all viewpoints - including those I agree with who have indulged themselves.

There is much there relevant to the policy research and formation process with respect to the Third Sector, as well as the position of Christian churches in the UK, and their relation to government. I’m hoping to obtain a very wide range of perspectives in this second “online symposium” (out first was about MP Pay and Expenses).

Introduction

As the Wardman Wire contribution to efforts to move forward the current debate about MPs and their expenses, terms and conditions, and the transparency and reputation of politics in general, we are running an article series from a wide range of viewpoints on the whole topic.

If there is a single aim, it is to bring some light in alongside the heat. We want to generate a lot of ideas for ways ahead from a lot of different viewpoints and political positions. You can find the introduction to the series, and brief for the authors, here. I’m happy to keep it running while there are people wanting to express a substantive view.

Tim Ireland: Audits and Timekeeping - an example

This contribution is by Tim Ireland of Bloggerheads, who suggests that MPs draw on experience from the world outside the Westminster bubble.